Chapter 2
***COOPER***
It took every bit of Cooper’s control not to slam the door as he walked out of his advisor’s office.
The man was completely useless in a crisis, and he felt like he was all alone.
He’d expected something more than just a handful of papers with lists of available internships, most with application deadlines just days away.
He had thought his mentor would use his influence to make something happen.
It wasn’t his fault that ancient ruins had been discovered at the stadium, and he shouldn’t have to suffer because of it, but now he’d have to spend every waking hour scrambling for an internship so he could graduate.
As he left the building, his stomach began to growl, and he realized that he hadn’t eaten all day.
Glancing at his watch, he groaned; it was still hours before dinner, and he’d never make it that long.
The thought of grabbing a snack at home didn’t hold much appeal.
The last thing he wanted was fruit and granola or one of Hattie's healthy snacks; he wanted some fat and salt, wanted a treat after the horrible day he’d had.
Turning right instead of left when he came out of the building, he headed to the student center, the perfect place to find just what he was looking for.
He’d look over the papers his advisor had given him and come up with a plan of action while he ate, and hopefully when he was done a path would be clear to him.
After filling his tray with more food than he should have been eating at that time of the afternoon, he found an empty seat in the sea of tables, then, list in one hand, he began to eat.
He was just lifting a cheese-laden tortilla chip to his mouth when he looked up and saw Dr. Warner making her way toward the seating area, a tray of food in her hands.
His heart started pumping wildly in his chest, his body began to tingle as he watched her, and the chip slipped out of his fingers, landing with a plop back on the plate.
When Dr. Warner paused to look around, he thought he’d been caught staring for a second and quickly looked away, but couldn’t help but look back over at where she was standing.
It was then that he realized there were no empty tables and she hadn’t even noticed him sitting there.
She was looking for a table, and before he could stop himself, he stood up and walked over to her.
“I have a table over there,” he said, pointing. “If you’d like to join me, I can apologize for biting your head off this morning.”
Dr. Warner studied him for a second. “I guess that would be okay,” she said, smiling at him, her blue eyes sparkling behind her glasses. “And there’s no need to apologize. I don’t blame you one bit, that had to have been hard news to hear.”
They’d reached his table, and he pulled out a chair for her.
“It was devastating, but you don’t want to hear about my troubles,” he said, sitting down in front of his food again.
“I’ll find something else even if I have to stay up for the next three days to get it done.
There’s no way I’m going to let this stop me from graduating. ”
“Oh, no wonder you were so upset, I’m sorry,” she said, putting her hand on his arm, making the skin begin to tingle. “I feel like this is my fault.”
“I’m not sure that there’s anyone to blame, but it’s definitely not your fault,” he said, trying to ignore the way the tingle was turning to warmth. “You were just the messenger. Sorry again about the way I acted.”
“Consider it forgotten,” Dr. Warner said, smiling at him. “So, tell me what other internships have you been looking at? Maybe I can help you in some way. I don’t have a lot of influence yet, but I do have a PhD.”
“Those letters always help,” he said, then hesitated for a second before deciding to risk insulting her. “I was just wondering…well…it’s not really polite to ask, but you seem…well, really young. How old are you anyway?”
She studied him for a second, then sighed. “I just turned twenty-two,” she said. “I’m kind of smart; I graduated from high school when I was sixteen, college when I was eighteen, and I got my PhD last year.”
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked,” he said. “But that’s pretty impressive, you must be more than kind of smart.”
“I guess you could say that; I don’t really like to draw attention to it.
I hate it when people think I’m different,” she said.
“I can’t wait until I’m old enough that people stop questioning me, my credentials, and my experience.
It’s a constant battle to be taken seriously either because I’m so young or because I’m a woman.
Sometimes it’s both, and I can’t wait until I prove myself so that it all stops. ”
He didn’t say anything for a second, the fire in her eyes making it hard to breathe as a huge wave of desire rushed through him.
“Oh, Cooper, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t say that, I mean, well, my chance to prove myself is coming at your expense,” she said.
“I’m such a jerk sitting here rubbing it in, can you ever forgive me? I promise I won’t say another word.”
“It’s okay, I’m not upset, at least not at you,” he said, unable to stop looking at her lips, which were plump and inviting. “I’ll figure something out. I’m going to graduate, but I guess if that’s going to happen, I need to get to work.”
“Thanks for sharing your table,” Dr. Warner said, getting to her feet. “I should probably go; I’ve got another meeting in ten minutes.”
He watched her walk away, a buzz of attraction making his head swim just a little, then forced himself to look away.
He’d done the right thing and apologized; now it was time to put the doctor out of his mind.
There was a lot of work to do if he was going to snag an internship at the last minute.
That was the only thing he should be thinking about, but as Dr. Warner disappeared from sight, he had a feeling it wouldn’t be.
***Stephanie***
Stephanie was still deep in thought when she got back to the office after her late lunch.
The situation with Cooper had left her feeling a bit off balance, and not just because she found herself extremely attracted to him.
She’d told herself several times on the way across campus that she needed to forget about it, life wasn’t fair, and even Cooper wasn’t that upset anymore, but it was still bothering her when she walked through the door.
“What’s wrong?” Kendra asked as soon as she saw Stephanie’s face. “What happened now?”
“Nothing happened, I just ran into Cooper at the student center, and he’s scrambling to find an internship,” she said. “Did you know that he won’t graduate if he doesn’t find one?”
“That’s pretty common with a degree like he’s getting,” Kendra said with a shrug of her shoulders. “He seems like a nice guy, I’m sure he’ll figure something out.”
“Yeah, he’s got a list of opportunities, I just…well…I feel guilty,” she confessed. “Here I am getting the big break of my career, and he’s lost his. I can’t help but feel…I don’t know…like there’s an imbalance or something.”
“His loss, your gain, I get that, but Dr. Warner, you didn’t have anything to do with it. It’s not like you set out to ruin his internship, you were just chosen to lead the dig,” Kendra said. “You have nothing to feel guilty about, you’re just doing your job, you don’t owe him anything.”
“I know, but I just can’t shake the feeling that this isn’t right. I know it’s silly, I worked hard to get here, but I can’t help but think this tips the balance the wrong way,” she said, then sighed. “Does that even make any sense?”
Kendra was silent for a second. “I think so, but…” she paused. “Well, are you sure you’re not just feeling bad for him because you like him? Not that I blame you, he’s hot and he was definitely interested in you, I saw it in his eyes. I didn’t know if you noticed.”
She felt her cheeks turning red. “That’s silly, we were only together for a few minutes, you couldn’t have seen that,” she said, trying to ignore the thrill that shot through her.
“I feel bad for him because he’s worked hard, and none of this was his fault.
He got cheated, and I got the benefit of his loss, that’s all there is to it. ”
“Okay, sorry, I was just checking,” Kendra said, shrugging her shoulders, but she didn’t look the least bit convinced. “I don’t know what you can do to fix the situation; you don’t exactly have internships to hand out.”
“I know, and that’s the problem, there’s not really any way I can help,” she said, then sighed. “It’s frustrating, but I guess I’m just going to have to accept it and move on. Life really isn’t fair.”
“Never has been and never will be,” Kendra said, then glanced down at the appointment book in front of her. “Your last meeting of the day is in fifteen minutes downstairs in the café. Dr. Fairchild is always early; if you want to beat him there, you should probably head down now.”
“Thanks, Kendra, I don’t know what I’d do without you,” she said. “Remind me to give you a raise.”
“I’ll put it at the top of my to-do list,” the other woman said, grinning at her.
She was just setting down the tray with two coffees and a selection of sweets on a low table between two chairs when she spotted Dr. Fairchild coming toward her.
“Stephanie, good to see you,” he called, a big smile on his face.
“I hope you’re ready for some hard work, this site is going to test your limits. ”
“I can’t wait,” she said, smiling back at the older man. “I’ve been dreaming about this day since I was six years old.”
“Well, you’ve earned it,” he said, taking one of the chairs. “Let’s get right to it, we have a lot to discuss.”
The coffee and pastries were long gone by the time Dr. Fairchild handed her the last folder from the pile he’d pulled out of his briefcase.
“This is all the financial information for the dig, you’ve got a decent initial budget to get you going,” he said.
“You should be able to hire a second assistant, a couple of full-time people, any experts you need, and still have money for at least eight interns. Once you’ve finished your preliminary survey of the site, we’ll talk more about a long-term budget.
If this find turns out to be as big as I think it is, you’re going to be here for several years.
You and your staff should be able to think about settling in for a while. ”
It struck her again how thankful she was to have been given such a big opportunity, and promised herself that she’d work her butt off to make it a success.
“Dr. Fairchild, I just want to thank you again for assigning me to this site,” she said.
“I appreciate your faith in me, and I promise you’ll be proud of the work my team and I do.
All of our names will go down in history. ”
Dr. Fairchild smiled at her, “That sounds wonderful, my dear,” he said. “I have no doubt that you’ll make me proud, but remember I’m only a phone call away. Don’t hesitate to call me anytime, I’ll always be available to answer questions.”
“That’s good to know, I’m sure I’ll be taking you up on the offer,” she said, patting the stack of papers on the table. “There’s a lot to sort through in here, and I don’t want to miss anything.”
When Dr. Fairchild was gone, she tidied up the tray and returned it, packed up the papers, and headed home to the motel room, exhausted but excited to get started.
As she drove, she couldn’t help but replay the evening in her head, and she thought back to everything Dr. Fairchild had told her, and then it hit her.
She was going to have enough money to hire eight interns, and the only logical place to get them would be from right there at the college.
If she hired Cooper, it would solve everything; she could stop feeling guilty, he could graduate on time, and hopefully learn something about ancient architecture in the process.